


31 nights from dusk till dawn

by TaleWeaver



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-19 12:37:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 12,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2388464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaleWeaver/pseuds/TaleWeaver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drabble/ficlet/oneshot for every day of October with a Halloween theme.<br/>Warning - written mostly on the fly with very little, if any, proofreading.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. vampires (post season 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Last year sometime, I ran across this set of prompts on a book review blog I follow – it was meant for blog entries, so I’ve swapped out a few. But most of these are direct from the original list.
> 
> My basic idea is to write and release a drabble/ficlet for every day in October... so I’ll probably complete this sometime in late November!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(note: I’m **sure** that someone’s written this line elsewhere, but c’mon! It’s just too effing obvious not to use!)_

Another bar, another mob of blood-sucking-snakes, another fight for their lives.

At least this time, Seth and Kate know what they’re dealing with... and they walked into **this** trap with their eyes wide open and loaded for bear – um, _culebras._

This lot isn’t anywhere near as organised as the Twister, nor as big – no temple or production-line-perfect setup. Kate and Seth pretty much planned on being the only two able and willing to fight, and are pleasantly surprised to find that some of the innocent bystanders (aka ‘dinner’) aren’t entirely helpless. They don’t account for any of the kills, but a good half-dozen show a heartening knack for self-defence; in particular, one frat boy type (who probably wandered in by accident) manages to get behind the bar, proving to have a good working knowledge on how to turn liquor bottles into molotov cocktails, and wicked aim. 

The place is cleared out (and at least half on fire) by midnight, and Seth and Kate have already escorted the ten other people who still have a pulse into the parking lot, where there’s lots of room to see any incoming stray _culebras_ who somehow managed to survive this particular party.

"What the hell were those... **things**?” asked Frat Boy. Out in the parking lot, he’s starting to shiver from reaction and probably shock. He looks younger, too; high school young. 

"Duh! They were vampires,” snaps the biker babe with a near-explosion of scarlet curls. 

“But they can’t be!” protests Not-Frat-Boy. “They don’t-” 

“Say the word ‘sparkle’,” Seth warns, aiming his revolver at NFB’s face, “and **I’m** going to kill you.” 

NFB just looks confused. “Exist. Vampires don’t exist – wait, sparkle? Are you talking about that Twilight bullshit? No fucking way, dude! Whatever those things were, they sure as shit didn't look like gay disco mirrorballs! I mean, getting killed in there,” his thumb points over his shoulder at the burning bar, “would have really sucked, but getting killed by one of those Twilight things would have been downright tragic! I mean, how embarrassing would **that** be?” 

_(other note: yes, this was very nearly my same reaction when I first saw Twilight’s ‘glittering Edward’ scene. If you’re a Twilight fan... well, I respect the personal lifestyle choices of all people.)_


	2. Fall Candle (Kate, pre-series)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _soundtrack: 'St Clare' by Suzanne Vega_

Despite the throng of volunteers, Kate and Scott have always been expected to help out around the church; once they started public high school, the more rigid schedule and various school activities meant that Momma and Daddy let them off a lot of their former duties.

One job that Kate had made sure she kept, though, was lighting the candles for Sunday evening services. It’s simple, quick, and Daddy lets Miss Marcus, the owner of ‘To Light Your Way’, run her candle-making classes in the church’s main hall, in exchange for a steady supply of candles for the altar.

Katie flicks the long barbeque lighter, and watches the flame take hold of the wick. She waits a few seconds for the scent of the candle to be released, and leans forward; not enough to singe her hair or eyelashes, but enough so that she can drink in the fragrance of cranberry and apples, lightly laced with cinnamon.

One time Miss Marcus came by with an extra delivery, and caught her lingering over the candles; when Kate explained how much she loved the scents, Miss Marcus chuckled sort of knowingly, and said that Kate was a born sensualist – and that it would come in handy when she was old enough to be interested in men.

Kate blushed hotly in response; but she’s thought about it since, and decided that she wants to marry a man who appreciates things like scent and taste.

 

(Several years and several hundred miles later, Seth Gecko will give Kate an intense lecture on how to properly appreciate tequila, and how to tell a good one by taste. Kate gives him an odd sort of approving smile the whole time; Seth decides not to ask why.)


	3. Halloween book  (Kate and Scott Fuller, pre-series)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Soundtrack: “Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Raven’ ” read by Sir Christopher Lee_

Pastor’s wife or not, Jenny Fuller had always loved Halloween. When they’d married, she’d quickly persuaded Jacob that pagan holiday or not, there was no reason Halloween had to be sacrilegious at all, and she’d passed that love on to her children. It was partly due to Jenny Fuller’s partisanship that the Bethel library ran a special story time during the week leading up to the event. Given how often the Fuller children used the library in their home-schooling, it wasn’t a surprise that they were there every day. Storytime was an especial favorite, aided by a children’s librarian who was a slightly frustrated actor, and channelled it into Halloween storytimes especially. 

“Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore,” Mr Olivier quavered, as if frightened. “Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!”

His voice became stronger as the narrator’s thoughts, as he added, “Quoth the raven-”

“Eat my shorts!”

Katie looked over at Kyle Winthorp, who was smiling as he added, “I know this one! It says ‘eat my shorts’!”

“No it doesn’t,” Scott answered. “Only Bart Simpson says that.”

Mr Olivier was looking at Kyle like he really wanted to kick him out of storytime, but knew that would be wrong. As Scott told their parents afterwards, you couldn’t blame him – he’d been doing a great job of giving all them the shivers, until stupid Kyle had to go and open his big mouth.

“If you’d **paid attention** ,” Katie used her best withering tone, studied from her grandmother, “You would know that Lisa is reading Bart and Maggie this poem in that episode. And interrupting the librarian is very rude!”

She and Scott turned back to Mr Olivier, who sort of looked like Kyle had let the air out of his tyres, and did their best to look encouraging.

“C’mon, Mr Oliver, say it!” Scott urged.

Mr Olivier gave them a small smile. He then put on his spookiest tones, and continued, “Quoth the raven...”

He looked at Katie and Scott. They nodded.

“ **Nevermore!** ”

He made it sound so very spooky, that every kid in storytime shuddered at once!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _NOTE: ‘The Raven’, by Edgar Allen Poe, featured on the very first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. You can find the full text of the poem easily on the net via pretty much any search engine. Sir Christopher Lee’s recorded version is available on YouTube - and it’s freaking spooky! As is Christopher Walken’s version (which was next in the playlist). Though Vincent Price and James Earl Jones are no slouches either! Do you prefer Saruman or Darth Vader?  
>  Mr Olivier is named for famed thespian Sir Laurence Olivier_


	4. National Frappe Day (Fuller family, right before the series)

“Okay, kids, let’s consider this the first stop on the Fuller family trip to Mexico,” Jacob said, wearing his best genial face. God knew he’d put his kids through enough these past six months; having him behave like a grouch right at the start of the trip wouldn’t do much to help the family bonding.

“Starbucks?” Scott asked flatly.

Jacob shook his head. “Coffee is one thing, son, Starbucks is quite another. ‘Sides, I can’t find one on this street. So much for one on every corner,” he snickered.

Neither of Jacob’s children knew why he had a grudge against Starbucks. But then, they didn’t like the retail chain much themselves. Scott because that was where the lacrosse team hung out after school, and Kate because they refused to make anything but frappucinos, which she described as ‘frappies’ with a sneer. 

“So, frappe for you, Katie-cakes?”

“Only if it’s a **real** frappe, Daddy. I need the caffeine to keep me awake after a night of Scott’s snoring.”

“Hey!” Scott answered indignantly.

“Oh, don’t even deny it,” Kate snarked back. “You snore like a chainsaw!”

“Do not discount the usefulness of chainsaws, Kate,” Jacob said, in an attempt to deflect a brewing sibling battle.

“No, Daddy, I’m not. I’m just saying, would it kill Scott to maybe sleep on his side?” Katie replied, not unreasonably.

“Fair enough. Alright then, a real frappe for you, and Scott? Caramel mocha for you?”

“That’s fine, Dad. Thanks.”

Jacob gave an imperceptible sigh of relief at having a more-or-less harmonious start to the trip, and headed for the RV door.

So far, they seemed to be off to a good start. Jacob hoped it held up – at least to the Mexican border.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(All I can say is... when I went to the US in July/August 2013, I didn’t see many Starbucks. Though maybe I just didn’t notice them, because I don’t drink coffee. The one time Starbucks tried opening in Adelaide it folded in less than a year – although we’ve got at least 15 Cibo Matto franchises in the CBD alone! Guess we like our coffee European style...)_


	5. Skeleton (Scott, post-season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Soundtrack: Dead man’s party – Oingo Boingo_

Scott took a deep breath he didn’t need, before he plunged into the crowds of Carnaval. After his re-birth, he’d wandered over to the coast, mostly because Kate wasn’t the only Fuller who loved the beach. A darker part of him remembered all the tourists, who would probably make for good eating. Whatever that bastard Carlos had done otherwise, he’d given Scott a good rundown on the _culebras_ basics, at least, including the best ways to choose a meal and body disposal.

But he hadn’t mentioned that you could feed without killing... but then, Carlos had an all-you-can-eat buffet every night, where killing everyone in the place was only practical. Scott was actually kind of proud of himself for figuring out that part on his own. It only worked about half the time – which was one of the reasons Scott mostly picked tourists, with no one around to make a fuss – because he needed to feed pretty much every night to be able to control himself that much.

But here in Mazatlan, Carnaval had huge crowds of revellers every night. Scott would be able to control his feeding, especially on people who were tipsy or tweaking enough that they’d think the whole thing was a dream. (Oddly, drink and drugs didn’t cross over with the feeding. Probably just as well.)

Scott had a good stash of money, because one of his first feedings had been on one of Carlos’ supply stations, with cash and drugs littered around the place. After he’d glutted himself on the half-dozen workers, Scott had set the place on fire to cover his tracks. Given Jacob Fuller’s anti-drugs stance, Scott liked to think that his Dad might have been proud of him for one part of that particular night’s activities, at least.

But the money was enough to keep him going for awhile, especially since Kate had left him the RV. Scott didn’t know how she’d gotten away from the Twister, but when he’d emerged from a day of hiding in a nook right under the wreckage of the club – he did **not** want to get press-ganged into Carlos’ cartel, thank you very much – it had still been there in the parking lot. His new, ultra-keen sense of smell had followed the remnants of his sister’s unique scent around the RV, and centred on the bumper – the same place their Momma had always put the hide-a-key on the family car, because she was notorious for losing the car keys in her purse every time she went shopping. 

When he found the keys, with Kate’s scent all but imprinted on the warm metal, Scott knew that despite everything, his sister still loved him.

It had been what kick-started his need to control his new state of being; the idea that maybe, he could track down Kate and show up at her door, and not be met by a stake to the heart.

Scott stopped at the edge of the parade, taking a moment to appreciate the floats passing by. Maybe one day he could go up to New Orleans for Carnival there... Kate had always wanted to go, and it seemed to be the biggest part of post-Katrina recovery.

The flashing lights from one of the floats bounced off the windows of the stores lining the street, and something caught Scott’s eye. Turning away from the crowd, he headed towards the gift shop, and spent a good five minutes looking over the display. Made up of jewellery, postcards, little framed tableaus and paintings, they all featured little skeletons. Despite the subject, the whole display seemed kind of funny – what was that SAT word? Whimsical?

On impulse, Scott bought a pair of skeleton earrings and a pack of postcards. When he found out where Kate was, he’d send her the earrings. Just to tell her that he was still around...

...and that he still loved her, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(NOTE: this was actually inspired by a display in an art gallery near my home; the owners frequently go to Mexico on buying trips. So if you’re ever in Adelaide, check out the Jackalope Studio Gallery in Port Adelaide!_
> 
> _I’ve come across a few dissenting opinions about this, so I thought it worth mentioning: if you pay close attention to Scott’s dialogue in the scene where he & Carlos are ransacking the RV, Scott isn’t working with Carlos simply because he’s a culebras now. He made a deal with Carlos to get Jacob & Kate out of the labyrinth in exchange for Scott handing over the bearer bonds & spying on Santanico with Richie. Since he didn’t know that Carlos had specific plans for Kate of a sacrificial nature, Scott didn’t have any reason to think Carlos wouldn’t hold up his end.)_


	6. Oktoberfest  (Seth and Richie, pre-series)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(NOTE: according to the news broadcast Jacob switches off in ep 2, Seth and Richie are both in their late twenties – and according to Freddie Gonzales in the same ep, **Richie** is the older of the two, in direct contrast to the original movie. I’ve put the brothers as 27/28 in season 1, respectively. If Seth’s been in prison five years in 2014, he must have gone away in 2008/2009, making him 21/22 at the time.)_

_“O'zapft is!”_

Seth cheered at the top of his lungs in response, along with most of the crowd that surrounded him and his brother.

“Now we can get to the party!” Seth enthused.

“Honestly, Seth, is it really such a thrill to be able to drink legally here?” Richie asked. “You’ll be legal in the US in just over a year anyway.”

“Fuck, yeah,” Seth replied. He grinned and punched Richie in the bicep. “Stop being such a killjoy, man! We’re flush with cash, thanks to that job in Cleveland, so let’s get down and do some serious partying!”

“Just be careful with the steins, please? Oktoberfest beer is 2% heavier in gravity than normal beer, and I am not going to hold your head while you barf up your stomach lining.”

“Alright, Richie, I promise to drink responsibly. Lots of sausage and saurkraut between chugs.”

“Oh, great,” groaned Richie. “Our hotel room is going to **reek**. We’ll be lucky if we don’t get kicked out for room damage due to farts.”

“Like they’re going to care during Oktoberfest?” Seth asked. When Richie shrugged, conceding the point, Seth punched him on the other bicep. “Besides, it’s not like you’re the designated driver or some shit. Let’s make this a part of the Gecko brothers legend!”

“What the hell,” Richie grinned. “Let’s make history!”

A quick special-handshake later, and the next chapter of the Gecko brothers legend was underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _NOTE: ‘O’zapft is’ means ‘it’s tapped’, and is said by the incumbent Mayor of Munich to open every Oktoberfest since 1950, after he taps the first keg of Oktoberfest beer._
> 
>  
> 
>  _And yes, Oktoberfest beer does have 2% more gravity - I'm pretty sure that means it's stronger! Among other interesting things I learned researching this segment, Oktoberfest beer must made according to a strict code called the_ Reinheitsgebot, _and be brewed inside the city limits of Munich. Only six breweries qualify, and they've actually trademarked the term 'Oktoberfest beer'. Oh, and Oktoberfest didn't become a non-smoking event until after Seth went to prison._


	7. Pumpkin flavoured (Freddie and Margaret Gonzales, pre-series)

“Morning, Frederico,” Earl stated, walking into the Gonzales’ newly-purchased home. He tipped his Stetson to the lady cooking in the kitchen, and added, “Good morning, Margaret. How are you feeling today?”

“Pretty good, Earl,” Margaret replied with a smile. “Would you like some biscuits? I seem to be baking non-stop these days.”

“Which is great, really,” Freddie added. “But it’s all pumpkin-flavoured! Biscuits, cookies – even muffins! Margaret doesn’t want anything else lately. I swear, I think she’s given up chocolate.”

“So, pumpkin’s been what you’re craving, then?” Earl asked politely. “When Ramona was pregnant, she was crazy about oranges.”

Margaret gave a careless shrug. “Hormones, I guess.”

Eyeing her husband carefully, she leaned onto the kitchen counter, picked up her coffee and sipped, a pumpkin muffin resting on a plate at her elbow.

Freddie took a sip of his coffee, paused, and put the cup down carefully. “Wait a second - did you say... **pregnant**?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Note: no idea how Earl moseyed into this segment – it was just supposed to be Freddie and Margaret! Guess that’s how much of a badass he is!_  
>  During his death scene, he asks Freddie to tell ‘Ramona’ he’s sorry. Given that she’s been dead two years, it seems logical that it’s his wife’s name, rather than his daughter’s.  
> And yeah, in case I didn’t make it clear – this is how Freddie finds out that Billy’s on the way.


	8. Werewolves (Seth and Kate, post-season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Just as I thought, I've already started running behind! In my defence, I do have a good reason - it's a long weekend here, and I'm been inducting my brother into the FDTD fandom!_
> 
>  
> 
> _And hey... I'm even putting up day 7 & 8 early!_

“Kate, what the fuck are these?” Seth held up a brightly-shining bullet. “Is this what you blew several hundred bucks of our cash on?”

“They’re silver,” Kate said primly, as she racked up a full magazine of bolts on her crossbow.

“What do we need silver for? They don’t do shit to _culebras_ that ordinary bullets don’t.”

“They’re for werewolves.”

“Were-” Seth sighed. “Kate, honey, there’s no such thing.”

“Like there’s no such thing as vampires?” Kate said, giving him a look so pointed she could fire it from her crossbow.

“Well, as far as we personally know, there isn’t,” Seth shot back. “We have _culebras_ , which strongly resemble vampires but are, in fact, a different race altogether. More to the point, there’s no wolves in Mexico, Kate. So therefore no werewolves. There might be were-coyotes, maybe, but there’s no indication that silver would do shit to them.”

Fuck, he sounded like Richie, snarking at him for mixing up the French and Indian War with the War of Independence. Seth suppressed a wince, as a spark of pain danced through him.

“So we save them for when we go to Europe,” Kate shrugged. “Once you and Richie destroy the Lords of Night, there won’t be any more _culebras_. We’ll need something to do, so let’s go see if there really are any werewolves of London.”

Seth regarded her with narrowed eyes. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”

“Nope,” Kate told him with a grin. “But hey, as a bonus you can scope out the Tower of London. That Moriarty douchebag can get to the Crown Jewels, so can you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _NOTE: Actually, there are wolves in Mexico; in pre-Colombian times, they were highly regarded as symbols of war and the Sun. (Hmm... given that one of the Hero Twins is also known as the Hunter, and later became the Sun, I’m wondering if this is going to come up in the show) However, the Mexican Gray Wolf had become all but extinct in the US south-west by the 1930’s, and in Mexico by the 1950’s. Nowadays, Mexican wolves mostly exist only in zoos – though a breeding and release program is underway, and 2014 recorded the first birth of a wild wolf litter in Mexico. However, given that all the litter’s ancestors were raised in zoos, I’m pretty sure that any werewolves would have been discovered by now._  
> 
> _If there’s a flaw in my hit-and-run research, here, by all means please tell me!_


	9. Favourite halloween animal (Kate/Seth, future)

The hunt had gone well tonight; Seth and Kate were only lightly splashed with blood, and back at the latest motel room before midnight.

 

“I’m still kind of buzzed. What about you?” Kate asked, as she leaned against the car door.

 

“Well, I’m not interested in going to sleep early, if that’s what you mean,” Seth answered, smirking.

 

With any other woman, he would have found it frustrating or even downright annoying that she couldn’t just come out and say that she wanted to fuck. With Kate, he found it – God help him – downright adorable. He had to get Kate wasted on tequila or lots of foreplay to get his lover to lose the mien of the preacher’s daughter and unleash her inner vixen... but damn, it was **so** worth it. Last time he’d managed it, they broke the fucking bed!

 

But all thoughts of getting Kate naked vanished, when a subtle, indistinguishable scrape reached both their ears. Seth reached for his revolver (now loaded with dum-dums), and Kate’s hand flashed to the stake in the back of her jeans waistband. They’d never been followed back to their home base after a job before, and the very thought kicked them both into high gear.

 

Then a soft thump made them both look at the hood of the car, and Seth was literally an instant away from pulling the trigger, when he sensed Kate relaxing again.

 

From the hood of the car, emerald eyes locked onto Seth’s and held, initiating a brief contest of wills. Seth lost with good grace, and gave a respectful nod to a fellow hunter in the night, before he let his grin out.

 

His opponent gave a regal nod in acknowledgement, and turned to Kate.

 

Kate surrendered without even putting up a fight - she reached out her hand, cooing, and the black cat allowed her to scratch behind it’s ears, nudging it’s head against her palm to encourage her.

 

For some reason, it didn’t surprise Seth at all when the cat followed them inside. He was just grateful that when the cat jumped up into the room’s sole chair, it pointedly turned away from the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Actually, the Raven is my equal favourite with the black cat (probably because of ‘Forever Knight’), but I already used it back on day 3._
> 
> _Given how Poe the Cat – yes, he’s already named himself – seems to have chosen to join Seth and Kate on their travels, I can say it’s very likely that he’s going to be showing up again.)_


	10. Urban Legend (AU, Kate/Seth)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _SMUT AND VIOLENCE WARNING_
> 
> _This is the first prompt I had to swap out: the original was ‘fall or Halloween blog feature’; I picked ‘urban legend’ as a substitute. I’d originally had a vague idea of Seth and Kate making out in a car to lure out a serial killer copying the Hookman (or something along those lines anyway), but, well... this sort of sprouted instead. All things considered, ‘slasher movie’ is probably more appropriate, but oh well. In the interests of CYA, there are implications of Kate/Seth/Richie, for the many of you who are into that. I don’t think it would work very well myself, especially post season 1, but it sort of just appeared in this._  
>     
>  _Also, I am not kidding; this is where I earn the M rating. SMUT AND BLOODY MURDER LIE AHEAD._

When Kate had accepted a counsellor position at Camp Sunnydale, she’d just wanted a summer job that would get her out of Bethel. A chance to spread her wings a little, be her own person, and get to know some new people who didn’t automatically attach the title ‘Pastor Fuller’s daughter’ or even ‘Scott’s big sister’ to her name. That plan had taken a near-fatal blow when her ex-boyfriend had turned up at the same camp. One of the reasons she’d wanted to leave Bethel for awhile was to get away from all of the people asking what had gone wrong, when Kyle was such a sweet boy, and wasn’t there a chance that they could fix things?

Yes, Kyle was sweet. But Kate had discovered that _she_ wasn’t. 

She tried to be a good person, and hoped she succeeded. But all it had taken was spending one day alone with the criminally handsome and charismatic Camp Manager, and Kate’s entire view of herself had flipped upside-down like a ship in the ocean.

If it hadn’t been for that day, Kate would have simply enjoyed her teenage crush on Seth Gecko - barely even imagining, much less daring, that she would actually say or do anything about it. But that one day they’d spent working alone together, with all the other staff busy at the other end of the camp or in town, had made Kate’s instant case of lust evolve into something far deeper. It was all the small glimpses she’d received into Seth’s mind and heart. The bone-deep mischievous streak, the love of winning, and putting one over on the foolish – even the hints she’d caught of a darker side to him, that Seth would have no compunction in breaking the law if the reason was good enough. But it was probably how he acted with his younger brother – Richie had joined them for lunch – that sealed the deal. 

As an older sibling herself, Kate had a special appreciation of the fact that Seth was an excellent big brother. It was easy to see that he didn’t actually like the forest or the outdoors all that much, but he’d taken the job at Camp Sunnydale for Richie. Kate sensed instinctively from that first lunchtime that Richie was a gifted, but tortured soul. Seth had admitted to her some time ago that he’d brought Richie out here in order to give him a measure of peace that he hadn’t been able to find anywhere else. 

Some of the other campers – even counsellors - found Richie creepy, or even scary. Not Kate. She was secure in the fact that Richie liked her very much. Richie was the one who had given her the first hint that Seth might just return her feelings, and since then he’d helped cover for her and Seth on a regular basis. Kate owed Richie a lot; she was crazy in love – and in lust – but not so crazy that she didn’t realise that her love affair with Seth had to be kept absolutely secret. 

Kate knew exactly how badly she was behaving. Her parents would be aghast if they knew what she was doing here at Camp Sunnydale; fornicating outside marriage - with a man ten years her senior! She didn’t care. Seth Gecko wasn’t a bad man, but he was a **wicked** man, and he made her feel like a woman. From the very first time she saw him, he stirred desires in her that she hadn’t realised she possessed. Her body came to life underneath his touch. Three weeks after they’d met, Seth had finally kissed her. Two weeks after that, they’d had sex for the first time after a naked moonlight swim. Under Seth’s expert guidance, Kate had swiftly learned to not only embrace, but thoroughly enjoy her own sexual needs. 

Kate knew it was stupid to come out here into the forest, especially in the dark. It was completely obvious that Kyle was just making up stupid stories about some guy in a coverall and a mask stalking the woods to punish horny teenagers – her ex had started the childish game the same day Kate first realised that her feelings for the drop-dead-gorgeous camp manager might be requited. But still, the local Sheriff had just confirmed on the news that several teenagers had gone missing from the valley in the last week. More to the point, Seth had his own cabin with a real, queen-sized bed. Surely he could ask his brother to bunk elsewhere for one night? Kate knew Richie wouldn’t mind – unlike Seth, he really enjoyed hunting and camping, and he slept out in the woods on a regular basis anyway. 

But when Seth had met her behind the main hall, he’d just taken her hand and brought her here, to this small clearing with just enough light for her to clearly see every mouth-wateringly sexy inch of his form. 

Kate leaned back against the trunk of a tree, and gripped Seth’s shoulders to steady herself. It had only taken a few minutes to walk here, but she could already feel the damp heat between her legs, fuelled by her fantasies of what Seth was about to do to her. Seth hurriedly stripped off his tight T-shirt, and Kate couldn’t resist the urge to trace several of the black flames tattooed on his arm with her fingertips. Seth shivered in reaction, and Kate felt her blood running hotter. Her nipples were already hard, and they rasped almost painfully against the rough cloth of her plaid shirt. Even in the dark of the woods, she was so close to Seth that she could see the lewd smirk spread across his face.

“Preacher’s daughter is hot for some bad boy, huh?”

Kate raised her chin proudly. “No. I’m hot for a **man**. One who’s very good at being bad.”

She might be disgracefully lustful now, but she refused to feel ashamed about it.

The smirk became a genuine smile, and Kate found it even harder to breathe for a second. “Good for you, Kate.” The smile became tinged with danger, as he added, “Better for me... because I’m not interested in teenage girls, either. I want a woman who knows what she wants, and can push back as good as I give it to her.”

The weak moonlight glinted off steel, and Kate’s breath caught for an entirely different reason as Seth raised the knife. Her heart pounded as the blade lowered to her chest, and she gasped with each movement – with each button being cut from her shirt.

When her shirt hung open completely, baring her breasts to his gaze, Seth slipped the Swiss Army knife back into his back pocket, and chuckled. “No bra?”

Kate licked her lips and fought back her blush. “I didn’t want to have any more layers between us than I absolutely had to.”

“Didn’t want any delays for the main event, huh?”

Daringly, Kate reached for the button of Seth’s jeans, and told him, “No, I didn’t. The sooner I can feel you inside me, the better.”

Seth gave that dark, wicked chuckle again, and pulled down her shorts and panties in one shot. Kate shimmied out of her lower clothing even as she attacked Seth’s jeans, so that she wore nothing but her useless shirt and sneakers. Kate pressed her back against the tree, the cloth of her shirt protecting her from the bark, and bit her lip as she reached out to her lover.

“Yes, that’s it sweetheart,” Seth hissed in her ear. He reached down to hook his hand under her knee, and Kate wrapped her leg around his hips. “Open your legs for me, honey, welcome me inside.”

Kate moaned as Seth thrust hard, pushing as deep as he could with the first stroke – he always did that, never took it easy on her except for the night he’d taken her virginity. She loved the way he didn’t hold back, that Seth always fucked her like she was his equal. 

“Shit, Katie,” Seth growled in her ear. “I love how tight you are – I love how wet you are for me.”

“Well, I love how you turn me on, how you always make sure I am,” Kate panted. “I love how you fill me up.”

Kate and Seth were too focused on each other to notice the blank, white face watching them from the shadows. Beneath his mask, the one who thought of himself as the Slayer of the Sinful ground his teeth as he waited to strike, forcing himself to wait until the pair in front of him were so lost in their disgusting rut that he could attack without caution – the Slayer had had no trouble with the pimpled, skinny teenage boys and girls that he’d struck down so far, but Seth Gecko was a man, strong and muscled and a far more experienced fighter than the Slayer.

The girl flung her arms around Gecko’s neck and gave a soft cry, her body thrashing in her lover’s strong hold as she climaxed. 

The Slayer tightened his grip on his axe. 

The razor-sharp steel bit deep, so smoothly that it was several heartbeats before the mortal wound was felt.

The axe dropped to the ground, with only a tiny crackle from the bed of leaves, and the Slayer turned slowly, eyes wide. Only to find himself almost toe to toe with another, equally pale face, eyes hidden as the lenses of his glasses caught the moonlight and flashed menacingly.

A second knife slid like butter between the Slayer’s ribs, and with both lungs punctured he couldn’t made a sound.

“This is **my** territory,” hissed Richie Gecko.

Ritchie waited until the pitiful amateur collapsed to the ground, before he casually stepped over the new corpse and moved into a better position to watch Seth and Kate’s lovemaking.

Ritchie smoothed his hand down his fly, flat and undisturbed as always, and smiled in contentment. As a result of the abuse their father had heaped on them as children, and what it had forced Richie to do in order to stop it, Richie’s body couldn’t react sexually. His resulting frustration and anger had led to him honing his killing skills while just a teenager. Fortunately, he’d only had to kill a handful of times before he’d found a better, safer way. On a trip to Mexico in mid-adolescence, he’d met a priestess of the old Mayan gods who had taught him to unlock the true power of his mind – and he’d found that his unresponsive body could feel sexual pleasure after all. He just needed to experience it through the unique, intense bond he shared with his semi-twin.

Seth was now pounding hard into his lover, his own orgasm quickly approaching, and Richie clinically admired the perfection of Kate’s moonlit breasts as they bounced violently, shockwaves rippling through her whole body from the force of Seth’s fucking.

Richie took a deep, slow, breath, and wrapped his fingers around a convenient tree branch, gripping hard. The pleasure Seth was channelling through their bond was more intense than anything he’d ever fed Richie before – so intense that Richie could almost feel his dead manhood twitch.

But then, it was only to be expected. Seth had had many women over the years, partly because he was always careful to make sure he gave at least equal pleasure as he received. But this woman was different; Kate was the last woman, the lover who had already ruined him for all others.

Ritchie had always been able to see truths and connections that were hidden from the eyes of others; he had long since accepted it as compensation for his condition. His training in Mexico had increased it a hundredfold, turning glimpses into full-colour visions. So the first time he met Kate Fuller, he’d known she was the missing piece of their family. Wife, sister, and lover - this was the one he and Seth had **both** been waiting for. Gentle enough to heal them both, strong enough to stand tall against the violent havoc their tempers sometimes wreaked. Understanding enough to accept their unusual bond, and loving enough to not only fit in the spaces between them but to make her own space as well.

Seth’s psychic senses were almost as dead as Richie’s sexuality, but the first time he’d laid eyes on Kate, he realised he needed her. That only Kate Fuller could satisfy a thirst inside his soul that Seth hadn't known existed until that moment. The first day they spent together alone, Seth told her the **real** story behind his tattoo without even thinking about it. The Gecko brothers had planned the seduction of Kate Fuller together, Richie’s psychic insight coupled with Seth’s seductive physicality.

Richie’s whole body froze, taken by surprise as the kickback of Seth’s climax washed through him, barely able to breathe. 

As he watched Seth and Kate dress – Kate self-consciously clutching the front of her shirt closed – Richie started arranging and re-arranging the pieces of his latest plan in his mind. 

Luckily, Kate would turn eighteen by the end of the summer; even if her parents objected to her union with Seth (and Richie was fair enough to understand why they probably would) the Fullers couldn’t actually take Kate away from them. But Kate’s happiness was now as important to Richie as Seth’s was. Kate adored her parents, and would be saddened by their disapproval - not to mention, she would most certainly want to be married in their church. But then, Vegas hadn’t worked out very well for Seth last time anyway.

Following Seth and Kate back to camp at a discreet distance, Richie made a mental note to come back later to dispose of the wannabe’s remains, then turned his mind back to the problem of persuading the Fullers to give their blessing to Seth marrying Kate next summer.

Richie knew that June was the traditional month for weddings; but he thought Kate would be most beautiful as an August bride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This AU’s sort of snuck up on me, but I think I’ve got some more play left in it. So now I’m wondering – I’ve got one or two other prompts I’ll need to swap out. Should I write more of those particular prompts in this particular AU?_


	11. Zombie (Gonzales family, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Okay, I’m cheating, I admit it. This was originally ‘spooky place’ (I even had a nascent idea for it), but since 11 October is also the date for the 2014 Adelaide Zombie Walk, I’m changing it, because I’m The Authour, so I can do stuff like that! Mwahahahaha!_
> 
>  
> 
> _Happy lurching, everybody!_

_Soundtrack – This is Halloween – Danny Elfman (original soundtrack, Nightmare before Christmas)_

 

Freddie couldn’t help it – he tried to be serious, but the smile wouldn’t stay locked away.

His daughter was adorable, even with a cheesy fake eyeball dangling down her cheekbone. All the other girls in her class were princesses, or witches – with a couple of superheroes thrown in for flavour. But his Billy decided to be a zombie! Typical of his little girl. 

“Daddy, you’re not supposed to smile at me! I’m supposed to be scary,” Billy scolded him.

So far, Billy showed every sign of being the one to follow him into the Rangers, not her younger brother Earl. But that was fine with Freddie – Hell, if years of being married to Margaret hadn’t convinced him of the general toughness of females, having Kate Fuller as a friend and occasional fight-ally definitely would have.

“Oh, so you want brains, huh? Help you keep up your grades in school?” Freddie asked. “Cause all that blood looks more like ketchup.”

Billy giggled. “That’s because it is ketchup, Daddy! I’m a **vegetarian** zombie! I only want **grains**!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(blinks in bemusement at self) Okay, so that was NOT where I was expecting to go with this. I was looking up all the different recipes for zombie cocktails the other night... I think it works, though!_


	12. scary horror book (Scott & Kate, far future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Respectfully dedicated to Stephen King and Salem’s Lot. This is, hands down, still the most frightening book I’ve ever read - the first time I read it, it scared the crap out of me every time I opened it! It’s been about twenty years since, but I still remember sitting on the old bike racks, outside my school. It was about 30 degrees celcius outside, and I was **shivering.** _

Scott reached out, and gently shook Kate’s shoulder.

Her answering scream rocked the entire bar; good thing it was closed, or she might have started a riot.

“Jesus Christ Kate!” Scott nearly jumped five feet in the air – he missed being able to do that for real.

“What did you do that for?” Kate whisper-screamed at him.

“I was trying to ask you if you wanted another drink before we go home. Seth and Richie will be back soon,” Scott replied breathlessly. “What’s with trying to shatter the windows?”

Kate sighed, and held up her thick paperback.

Scott took one look at the cover and groaned. “Are you shitting me? You’re the big bad _culebras_ hunter, the most deadly _gringa_ in Mexico – you helped defeat the frackin’ Lords of the Night! There are still places in this country where you’re rumoured to wear a necklace of _culebras_ fangs that you ripped out with your bare hands before you killed them!”

Kate frowned. “That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. And that includes Richie’s idea about Fort Knox and the water balloons.”

Scott ignored her and continued, “And you scream over a vampire book? Are you kidding me?”

“It’s **Stephen King**!” Kate hissed back. Her eyes dropped to the mahogany bar-top and she shrugged one shoulder. “And... well, I kind of thought that after all my hunting, it wouldn’t scare me anymore, so I could just enjoy the thrills, y’know?”

“So much for that idea,” Scott rolled his eyes.


	13. Trick ‘r’ treat (Kate and Freddie, AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This is another prompt swap-out; I was going to do another entry in my ‘Camp Sunnydale’ AU per the ‘aye’ votes for day 10, but I came across a trivia list a couple of days ago, and found an odd little fact that wouldn’t get out of my head. In my forthcoming Kate-centric fic, at one point she muses about what would have happened if she’d driven the RV back to Texas with Freddie riding shotgun. This is something that might have happened if she’d done just that._

Kate grimaced to herself, shifting her weight from left foot to right. Her 1950’s sweetheart outfit had been a pretty good idea – she wasn’t showing any skin to give Hank ideas, and if something happened, her flat saddle shoes meant she could book without tripping like some stupid blonde in a horror movie.

Pity she hadn’t taken an equal amount of care with her choice of date. In her defense, Hank, who sat behind her in American History at her new high school, had always behaved like a nice guy before.

Maybe it was because he was drunk with his basketball team buddies. Testosterone poisoning?

It was times like this Kate wondered if she’d appreciated Kyle enough when he was alive. She hoped that Kyle had felt that way, at least.

“Hey man, got the paint?” Jimmy called out.

“Right here!” Hank yelled back, brandishing a spray-can in each hand.

“I don’t get it,” Kate sighed. “What’s the point of all this, when we could be at the dance?”

She really wasn’t asking anyone in particular, but one of the cheerleaders answered anyway.

“The guy who owns this dairy is the father of the Dillon Panthers’ quarterback, even though Dave should be going to **our** school,” Jenny explained. “Marking them in Cowboys colors is reclaiming our territory!”

Kate did her best to look mildly enthusiastic, in order to ward off suspicion. In her head, however, she was counting down the minutes since she’d sent an emergency text.

In answer to her prayers (maybe God hadn’t given up on her after all?), a siren sounded close by, and a blue light started flashing.

“Holy shit, it’s the cops!” Susie squealed.

“Actually, it’s the Rangers,” came a deep voice, growling out the darkness.

The two cheerleaders let out small screams, and Hank dropped the paint cans in fright. Jimmy just fell over – although that could have been the six-pack he’d slammed in the car (good thing Kate had already been driving at the time).

Freddie Gonzales stepped out of the shadows of the main building, looming impressively despite the fact he was the shortest man there. Perhaps it was the dark expression on his face – it was the same look he’d worn when he and Kate had faced off against Sex Machine in the labyrinth.

“Boys, you **do** know it’s illegal to graffiti a cow in Texas?” Freddie growling. “I could toss you all in jail right now for this, and throw in a few charges for underage drinking and general stupidity. Pretty sure that would make you all ineligible for sports teams this year. Wonder how Coach Cortez would take it, knowing that one of his best shooters won’t be playing this season?” He gave a softer, but still dangerous look towards Susie and Jenny, “Or how Coach Sylvester would take having her National Cheer Team put at risk by losing two of hers?”

Jenny went pale, and Susie, who was dressed as post-series Bella Swan, went even whiter under her silver-dusted and ghost-face makeup, which was a real achievement. Kate had met the cheer coach, and couldn’t blame them.

“Fortunately for you, my wife managed to get a sitter, so I have better things to do than spend Halloween booking you losers into jail. So seeing as you haven’t actually sprayed anything yet, I suggest you call a cab to get to whatever supposedly epic party you’re on your way to and get the hell out of here.”

Jenny timidly raised a hand. “Um, sir? I haven’t had anything to drink, ‘cause I’m on Atkins, so I can drive us to the party. You can breathalyse me if you want?”

Freddie looked at Kate. She nodded slightly.

“Fine, I’ll take your word for it. As for you, young lady,” he turned that fearsome gaze on Kate, who hunched in on herself in not-entirely-fake-trepidation, “we will be having a talk. Get in the car.”

Kate nodded and scuttled to the car.

As she rounded the building, she heard Hank hiccuping, “Wait, where are you going, Kate?” 

“You think I’m going to let the girl who pays me board spend the rest of the evening with your dumb ass?” Freddie snarked. “Or are you so drunk you can’t even recognise me from when you picked her up an hour and a half ago? A helpful hint for the future, boy; you’re never going to impress a woman by getting drunk. Especially if it means you’re too out of it to actually pay attention to her.”

Freddie shook his head and did his best Clint Eastwood stride out to the car.

Kate was waiting in the passenger seat as instructed, and even as Freddie fastened his seat belt, she told him, “Thank you **so** much for the rescue.”

“Happy to help,” Freddie chuckled. “Want me to drop you off at school? The dance only started an hour or so ago, so you’ll just be fashionably late.”

“Please,” Kate nodded. “I should have just gone with my friends from choir in the first place. I just wanted to try feeling normal again, y’know?” She sighed. “For some reason, I’d forgotten just how stupid high school boys can act. I think I need to start looking at older men.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I did some googling; while one website says that it’s still a hanging offense to graffiti someone else’s cow (doing it to your own cow is okay, apparently), I’m pretty sure they’ve downgraded that to either a criminal misdemeanor, or a state jail felony, depending on the monetary amount of damage. It’s chapter 28 of the Texas state penal code, but I’m not sure if it’s 28.03 (criminal mischief) 28.04 (reckless damage or destruction) or 28.08 (which is specifically about graffiti, but only talks about buildings)._
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _In an extra trivia note, (just because I feel like mentioning it) all the OC names are musical tributes; Jimmy from Jimmy Eat World, Jenny and Susie from the Everly Brothers (‘Poor Jenny’ and ‘Wake up Little Susie’) and Hank from Hank Williams, which I heard playing from Mum’s radio through my open window._


	14. Ghost  (Kate & Santanico, post-season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I originally had an idea for Seth and Kate, a sort of fusion with the novel ‘Sparrow Hill Road’, by Seanan McGuire (one of the most interesting novels I’ve read in 2014), but since I’ve fallen behind again, I was pressed for time. So I decided to go with the more metaphorical meaning instead. A slightly different version of this scene will probably pop up in my forthcoming Kate-centric fic._

“I frighten you,” Santanico chuckled. “The dreaded _gringa_ Hunter. Is it simply because you know how easily I could kill you?”

Kate shook her head. “When I was in the labyrinth under the Twister, Sex Machine – Professor Tanner - told me that Carlos brought me there on purpose, same as he did Richie and Seth. Said it was because sacrificing me to the Gods would appease them for losing you.”

Satanico’s lazy expression vanished in less than an eyeblink, and she stared at Kate in something like horror.

“I read Tanner’s notes, and I’ve been studying since, and I paid a lot of attention to what the stories say about the Mistress of the Night. Especially the bits about how you got that way.

“I’m **terrified** of you... because I think that a very long time ago, you were a lot like me.”

“Yes,” the _culebras_ queen said slowly. “I think I was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _So, I was sort of aiming for ‘ghost of your past’. I firmly believe that Tanner-Carlos deal to sacrifice Kate (and probably those other women) to appease the Lords for losing Santanico was something Carlos came up with on his own; given how much Santanico hates what’s been done to her, even now I can’t see her being okay with the same thing being done to another young girl._


	15. childhood costume (Seth & Richie, pre-series)

_Soundtrack: This is Halloween – Marilyn Manson_

“Trick ‘r’ treat!”

The middle-aged housewife who was trying – and failing – to make a convincing Marilyn Monroe, cooed drunkenly as she passed out fun-sized Mars bars.

“Oh, what big fangs you have, you scary vampire! What a cute little witch!” Her eyes landed on Seth and Richie, dressed in dark suits and ties, and fedoras.

“Don’t you two look smart! You’re the Blues Brothers, right?” She waved a hand as she warbled, “Lemme see you shake your tail feather!”

Richie grinned, and said, “Actually, ma’am-”

Seth trod on his foot. “That’s right ma’am – we’re on a mission from God. We had the sunglasses, too, but we kept tripping on the sidewalk.”

“Probably a good idea you took them off, then,” Marilyn told them. She dropped an extra into both their bags, and winked, “Because I’m a sucker for a handsome man in a suit.”

As they followed the other members of the neighbourhood watch-sponsored trick ‘r’ treat group down the path back to the street, Richie asked, “What was that for, Seth? We’re not the Blues brothers.”

“But every time you explain who the Krays were, they get creeped out and don’t give us any candy!” Seth told him in exasperation. “Do you want a good haul from this trick ‘r’ treating caper or not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Reginald “Reggie” and Ronald “Ronnie” Kray were twin brothers who ruled the East End of London’s organised crime scene in the 1950’s – 60’s. In their ‘legit’ work as owners of several West End nightclubs they mixed with prominent entertainers and politicians, and during the 1960’s became celebrities in their own right, even being interviewed on television._
> 
> _I envision Seth and Richie being 10/11 in this – not sure the Blues Brothers is really appropriate either, but I don’t think they ever lived with someone who cared about appropriate viewing for kids._


	16. Pumpkin Patch (Gonzales fam, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Dedicated to Linus Van Pelt (and Charles Schultz), and to all of us with the imagination and heart to believe in childhood saints._

“So then, the great pumpkin rises into the air, and flies through the night. If you’re smart enough to spot him, he’ll give you extra candy! And not just supermarket candy either – the really good stuff!” Billy pronounced.

Her little brother’s eyes were wide in delighted awe. “So, it’s like a stakeout, like Daddy goes on? But instead of bad guys, you get chocolate?”

Billy nodded.

“Wow. That’s so cool. You think the Great Pumpkin knows Grandpa Earl, up in heaven?”

Billy chewed her lip in thought. “I dunno, Earl. I’m pretty sure that the Great Pumpkin can only fly in this world. Maybe they e-mail?”


	17. Black as Night (post season1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I predicted I'd finish this... middle of November. Um, sorry. But one of my new year's resolutions is to make better commitments to my writing - including finishing off the works I still 'owe'. So here's a start!

The hotel was actually pricey enough to have flat-screen TV’s, much to the cat’s disappointment. He much preferred the old, boxy sets, which had enough room for him to curl up on top and bask in the warmth the devices threw off. The feline – who had been named ‘Poe’ by the humans he’d selected in this life – had resigned himself to simply curling up behind these much less satisfactory rectangles for naps. Proper sleeping had to be done within eyeshot of his humans, preferably on a comfortable cushion of some sort. 

In other lives, he’d simply joined his human of choice in slumber, finding warmth in their own bodies. However, not only did the Sun Hunter and the Light of Grace have a very active mating cycle, they were both warriors, battle-hardened to react to invasion with force. Even an invasion of their space as proper as his.

As the last rays of the sun died, Poe simply rumbled to himself and flowed from behind the TV to the floor, and underneath the chair, where shadows already waited to receive him. Once his humans left on their own hunt, he would stand guard over their temporary nest.

After all, Poe wasn’t black as night just because it was stylish!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This was originally just meant to be about Seth or Richie stumbling across Poe in the dark and getting the crap scared out of them! I’d always known that Poe picked out Seth and Kate as his humans, but the idea that he remembers his previous lives (because cats have nine, of course) just came out of my fingers... as did the idea that he knew more about Seth and Kate’s place in the mythic fight against the culebras._  
>  BTW, Kate’s title is completely made up – from Jacob’s comment about Kate having ‘a light inside you’, and the word (rather than the girl’s name) Grace means to be favoured by God. Seth’s name is naturally from the Popol Vul myth of the Hero twins; one source I came across said that the Twins became the Sun and the Moon, and were known as the Hunter and the Jaguar respectively. So yeah, since we know that Rodriguez is following the myth, it’s pretty obvious now which Gecko is which.


	18. Spiderwebs (post Season 1: Seth & Kate)

Seth’s eyes narrowed, slowly moving his gun to try and cover all the half-dozen people standing in a semi-circle in front of him.

 

This was just fucking **typical** , wasn’t it?

 

He and Kate had made a trip up to the border to meet with Vanessa, because she’d found someone to give Kate’s crossbow an extreme upgrade (and okay, yeah – divorced for good reasons or not, he still missed her sometimes) ; Kate and Vanessa got along so well that it always made Seth a little antsy. After she’d handed over the crossbow, Vanessa told them about the favor her twin’s ex-husband had asked her for in return.

Kate had argued that it would be a nice mini-vacation (as much as **they** ever got, anyway), and while Bobbie had always disapproved of him in a High School President sort of way, her ex and Seth went way back – in fact, it was Hunter who introduced him to Vanessa in the first place. Lance Hunter was a professional merc (until he’d decided to sort-of go civilian) and he, Seth and Richie had worked on a couple of jobs together back when they were barely old enough to drink.

But now, Seth really wished that Vanessa had had a better idea of exactly what alphabet agency Bobbie and now Hunter worked for – because the mysterious disappearances? Were all from an honest-to-God **haunted house**!

One that **just happened** to have a film crew working for a reality show roll up right before he and Kate started doing recon.

Some of that footage was of him and Kate together – so if it didn’t get destroyed, Seth was going to have the entire FBI on his ass all over again, as well as the Rangers. No matter how tight Gonzales still was with Katie, he wouldn’t piss on Seth if he was on fire. (Which was fair enough, all things considered.) But not even Gonzales could keep the Rangers off Kate’s ass if she was officially listed a ‘person of interest’ in the Gecko brothers case, and one of Kate’s main protections from dangers who weren’t _culebras_ was her spotlessly clean record.

But none of that footage was getting wiped out, unless Seth and Kate worked out which of the people in front of him was the shapeshifting ghost who’d killed twenty people in the last five years – and two of the film crew in the last three nights.

 One breath, two – and Seth fired, the big pistol thundering in the old house.

At the exact same time the sound guy jolted from the bullet, a slim bolt of hawthorn wood sprouted from his throat.

 While the film crew all screamed/staggered/had hysterics, Seth just tilted his head back, and looked up at the balcony where Vanessa and Kate stood as backup.

 “How’d you know?” Seth called out curiously.

Kate smiled like that kid in _A Christmas Story_ , and patted her new T-1000 crossbow. “He’s the only one who didn’t show up in my brand new **night-vision** scope! You?”

 Seth made a face and brushed off the shoulder of his jacket. His first new suit in months, and he’d all but ruined it in this rundown place. “He was the only one who wasn’t covered in fucking spiderwebs!”

 

_Wondering about doing an extended version of this for a bigbang – maybe even casestory, if they have a 2015 round... and the mod forgives me for punking out in 2014._

_I also don’t own A Christmas Story and Ralphie, or his expression when he gets that BB gun._

_T-1000 is, of course, a reference to T2: Judgment day._

_If you hadn’t already guessed, in this canon Vanessa’s identical twin sister is Bobbie Morse of Agents of SHIELD, (for obvious reasons, if you look at Adrianne Palicki’s bio) with her ex, of course being S2 cast member Lance Hunter._


	19. Favorite Halloween couple (Seth/Kate, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Same future setting as day 12, day 27, and a few hours before day 31. This setting is basically my ideal ending for the show, because I am both a Hopeless Romantic and a big fan of Happy Endings, especially if the characters really earn them._
> 
>  
> 
>   _NOTE: vambraces are a form of armour that covers from wrist to elbow, and greaves do the same sort of thing from ankle to knee. Just wiki them for more info, or google images for a visual_

Seth cursed and called out, “Kate, could you help me with my horns?”

 

A soft giggle came from the door to their ensuite bathroom, and Kate replied, “Usually, it’s ‘horny’ you need help with.”

 

Seth snickered as he turned around, saying, “That’s always true, sweethea-“

 

One beat, two, then Seth added, “actually, that’s true **right now**.”

 

“Not now, Seth, you’ll muss your suit,” Kate said matter-of-factly, moving towards him. “And more to the point, the party can’t start without us. We delay it too long, we’ll have a riot on our hands.”

 

Seth conceded the point with a sigh, and simply let the admiring smile spread over his face.

 

It was Richie, of all people, who’d suggested their pair costume for tonight’s party. Seth refused to prance around in red lycra for fuck’s sake, which was all the online costume places seemed to have. Scott had come to the rescue, pointedly punching up a classic Rolling Stones hit on the bar’s jukebox during their post-closing drink.

 

“You look very much like a man of wealth and taste, if it helps,” Kate offered. But she couldn’t resist straightening his tie.

 

“Well, we got the bonds back, and I managed to get you to marry me. So it’s pretty fucking obvious that’s **exactly** what I am,” Seth smirked.

 

He looked damn good, though, if he did say so himself. He’d paired his classic black suit with a blood-red shirt, and a matching waistcoat and tie – black with blood-red pinstripes. The way Kate was looking at him said that she agreed.

 

If he could only get the damn horns to stick on his head! Kate obviously wasn’t having the same trouble with her wings – though she’d left off the halo.

 

Seth asked her curiously, “What’s with the armour?”

 

Kate’s sleeveless angel dress was still pure white, filmy, and short, drifting in an exaggerated feathered hem just a couple of inches above the knee (Seth was hoping that the modest hem meant that she hadn’t bothered with underwear). However, instead of the white rope belt, she’d managed some sort of armoured belt. The gold belt matched the vambraces and greaves she wore covering forearms and shins. The belt also held an empty sword sheath, and several knife-sheaths that weren’t empty – and Seth recognised the hilts. Kate had worn them for years on hunts.

 

“You expecting a lot of trouble at the bar tonight?”

 

Kate shook her head and smiled. “Just habit, I suppose. We’ve been hunters too long to be unarmed. Besides, are you telling me you don’t have a gun somewhere?”

 

“Wanna frisk me and find out?” Seth leered. From the way her tits were moving under the bodice, Seth was damn sure she wasn’t wearing a bra.

 

“Riot,” Kate reminded him. She handed him a clear headband with the horns attached. “There. What every well-dressed devil is wearing this year.”

 

“Especially when he’s got a beautiful warrior angel on his arm,” Seth answered. “I believe we have a party to start. The sooner we get going, the sooner we can sneak into the back office and fuck on my desk.”

 

“Sounds like the perfect Halloween,” Kate smiled back.


	20. Candy (Gonzales fam, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_Well.... I thought I'd finish this in November... then before 2015. Now I'm hoping I can do it before season 2 starts! I have some of the other ficlets done already - and I only need to make a cover for day 29 (hint: it's halloween music). I think I can manage it... I'm sort of cheating here, though - this is one I finished months ago and forgot to post here - if you've followed this on ff.net you've already read it._**
> 
> _This takes place a few hours after Day 11_  
> 
> _Soundtrack – Sweet like chocolate – Shanks & Bigfoot_

Freddie sighed in relief as he walked up to his front door. Halloween was a lot more fun with kids – but it was also a lot more exhausting. Billy was still on her feet but drooping a little, after not only the elementary school party but the supervised trick ‘r’ treating. He’d been carrying Earl for a good hour, now, and it was hard to even switch off arms with a full candy bucket as well!

Margaret was waiting for them at the front door with a gentle smile – the same smile that had first made his heart turn over in his chest. Freddie couldn’t help but smile back as she leaned down to give their little vegetarian zombie a welcoming hug, and steer her into the living room. 

Freddie let out a sigh of relief as Margaret silently took Earl from him, and carried him away upstairs to put to bed. Usually, they made a point out of putting the kids down together, but Freddie was just too beat right now. He probably would have a lot more energy if he hadn’t pulled a twelve-hour shift right before the party, though.

Billy was sitting on the floor, with her bucket upended, and as Freddie all but fell onto the sofa, she was already busily sorting through her loot. Freddie assessed her plunder with a practised eye; his little girl had managed a really good haul, actually. 

“Why the three piles, sweetie?” he asked idly.  
“Keep, trade, and dunno yet.”

Freddie chuckled – trust Billy to be organised even about candy! – and leaned back into the couch cushions. He took off his Stetson, dropping it in his lap, before he let a sigh escape, and allowed the day’s tiredness send his mind drifting.

“Daddy?”

Freddie opened his eyes – he hadn’t even realised he’d closed them. Must have been more tired than he thought. Billy had climbed up onto the couch, and knelt facing him, her hands cupped in front on her.

“What is it, Billy-girl?” he asked.

Billy smiled and opened her hands over his Stetson. Freddie blinked as a pile of shiny objects tumbled into his hat. Another blink, and he realised that his little girl had given him all the Reese’s peanut butter cups – his favourite.

“Happy Halloween, Daddy. Thank you for taking us out.”

Billy ignored the candy to lean forward and scoop his daughter into a hug. “Happy Halloween, sweetheart. You’re welcome.”


	21. Foggy (Kate, post season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I've managed to write 3 ficlets in about an hour. I think my brain now faces the other way..._
> 
> _Takes place shortly before day 18: this is something that happened earlier in that ‘story’. I still might write it someday – anyone know if there’s a FDTD bigbang going on somewhere?_
> 
> _I was originally thinking of something else in the Camp Sunnydale AU, but this literally just came to me. When the Muse actually deigns to speak to me, it’s best to obey!_

 

Kate held her crossbow in the guard position in front of her, advancing slowly into what had once been the ballroom of an antebellum mansion. 

 

This had once belonged to one of the most powerful men in the South, before the Civil War.  It hadn’t been the war that caused a shitload of damage, though – apparently a few years before that, a former slave turned bounty hunter had come looking for his wife.  The owner of the plantation, some guy called Calvin Candie, hadn’t wanted to sell the bounty hunter’s wife.  Candie either hadn’t realised that the bounty hunter’s former owners had sold the woman because they were afraid of her husband, or had been too arrogant to care. He should have cared.  The bounty hunter had killed Candie, his sister, and pretty much everyone with white skin on the plantation, set the house on fire, and ridden into the sunset with his wife.  A cousin had inherited the plantation, and re-built the house, only to find that the former owner was literally still around in spirit and really, really, pissed.

 

At least that was how the story went, and **something** had kept this mansion intact throughout the Civil War.  It hadn’t been occupied for more than six months at a time in the past 150 years – not even during the war, when every mansion in the area had been utilized for troops or nursing. 

 

Kate had no idea why Vanessa had wanted to meet in this neighbourhood, but it didn’t matter now.  The wannabe Ghost Hunters crew had caught her and Seth on camera, so they couldn’t just leave, and now it was too late: whatever this thing was, it had sealed the doors.

 

Kate had not lived through getting taken hostage, the Titty Twister, months of hunting _culebras_ and even longer of Seth first thing in the morning before coffee, just to get killed by a jerkass ghost with attitude. Especially one who, quite frankly, sounded like he’d deserved everything he got.

 

Kate narrowed her eyes, as the moonlight coming through the skylights seemed to dim.  She inhaled deeply, adrenaline starting to pump.  Something was thickening the air around her, and it was already concealing the French windows that led out to the terrace.  Smoke?  Kate sniffed, but the air smelled… wet and misty, not hot and ashy.  Fog, not smoke.  That was something, anyway; a ghost fire was **all** she needed.

 

She took a quick look through the night scope on her new crossbow (at least Vanessa had managed to hand it over and walk her through the features before all this happened) but nothing showed.  But then, if it was a ghost, Kate hadn’t really expected it to.  Ghosts were supposed to be ‘cold spots’ in the atmosphere, and was else was fog, but a giant diffused cold spot?

 

Kate said a silent prayer to Saint Michael for protection as she moved deeper into the shadows, and waited.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Yes, this is supposed to be the mansion from_ Django Unchained _. It was the Muse again. I realise the story isn’t quite right, but I figured that some of the details – like Dr King – would get lost over the century and change, especially since I’m sure Calvin Candie’s contemporaries couldn’t conceive of a white man going to such lengths to help a black man, much less kill a white man for ‘just doing what’s proper’. Django and Broomhilda’s descendants (including one John Shaft, according to Tarantino) know the real story, and always made sure they include Dr King whenever they tell it._
> 
>  
> 
> _Yes, I know that Saint Michael’s a catholic saint, and Kate isn’t (since Jacob’s a pastor, not a priest). But I figure that hunting culebras would lead to doing pretty much anything that might help keep you alive and safe._
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> __


	22. Fey/Fairy (Gonzales fam, future)

Billy snuggled down into her pillow, looking adorable against her _Frozen_ quilt.  Freddie sat in the chair next to her bed, and asked, “What story did you want tonight?”

 

Billy bit her lip in thought, then said, “A fairy story, Daddy.”

 

“Okay, then.  Now first… how do you keep one away?”

 

“Carry an iron nail in your pocket,” Billy said promptly.  “The fey can’t stand cold iron.”

 

“And if you think a fairy is making you lose your way?”

 

“Take off your clothes and put them back on inside out.  Daddy… does that mean your underwear too?”

 

Freddie frowned.  “Not sure, pumpkin.  Back when people found these things out, they didn’t really wear underwear – at least, nothing like we do.  I’ll check.”

 

Given what Freddie now knew existed down in Mexico?  He wasn’t taking **any** chances, especially on a mythology as old as the Celts.  His little girl was going to know how to protect herself against anything that might hurt her… **especially** things that most of the world thought didn’t exist anymore.


	23. Moon (Carlos, pre-series)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This was originally supposed to be another Seth & Kate piece… but the Muse poked me again. I remembered earlier today how Carlos addressed that idol of Santanico. No idea if I’m getting him right, which is probably one of the reasons it’s so short._
> 
> _This is set early 19th century, when Carlos was apparently hanging out with Pancho Villa robbing banks._

Carlos looked up at the full moon, hanging in the night sky, and inhaled deeply.  In an hour, he would be leading several men in an invasion of a bank, to enrich not only the Lords, but Pancho Villa.  Carlos respected him, for a mere human.  But Carlos had no such confidence in the men accompanying him.  So he had come outside into the moonlight, to commune with his goddess and ask for her protection.

 

Naked in the moonlight, Carlos spread out his arms, offering himself to the moon.  Offering himself to **her** , the one who he had worshipped since the first time he had laid eyes on her in a Mexican temple.

 

“Santanico,” he murmured.  “Hear my prayers, and protect me in my work.  Keep me safe, so I may aid you in your own quest.  La reina de la luna, I am yours, body and soul.”


	24. Day 24: Cemetery (Seth, far future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Minor season 2 spoiler – I think. I haven’t personally seen or read anything that confirms it, though I’ve seen other fanworks reference it. So hopefully it’s only a minor spoiler? Or just fanon?_   
> 

Seth took a long pull from the tequila bottle, and looked back down on the gravestone at his feet.

 

Ray Gecko hadn’t had much of a headstone (Uncle Eddie had been between jobs and broke at the time), and not much body to bury.

 

A distant siren screamed, and Seth decided to get this catharsis shit over with.

 

“Hey, Dad. Been a hell of a time, the last few years. Richie turned into a monster, I used a shitload of heroin, then I started killing monsters and fell in love. She’s way too good for me but she loves me anyway… sort of like you and Mom. But I **know** I’m a way fucking better guy for her than you ever were for Mom. Richie and I kind of saved the world… probably in spite of ourselves.

 

“But after all that, I went back to Austin and Big Jim. Richie even helped me, this time. Not because of you, though. Because Big Jim put me in jail, and Richie was pissed about that, at least.” Seth snickered, “And probably because my girl unleashed her doe eyes on him. They’re fucking lethal, those things.”

 

Seth stuck his left hand into his pants pocket, then pulled it out again. He held it up to his eye, and the diamond he pinched between his thumb and index finger glittered in the ambient light.

 

“The others in Big Jim’s stash are already history… but I always thought I’d come by and give you one. Even the first time I did this job. But you know what? You don’t deserve it.”

 

Seth lifted the tequila bottle over the small plot, and upended it.

 

“Not that you deserve Blue Agave either, you asshole. But pissing on your grave is just fucking tacky.”

 

Seth crouched to lean the empty bottle against the small bronze-and-rock headstone, and clenched his fist around the diamond.

 

“You were an asshole of the first degree. You were a shitty father, and a worse husband. You **abused** us, and Mom. No matter what kind of bastards Richie and I turned out to be, you didn’t deserve us, and you sure as shit didn’t deserve Mom. Hell, old man, one of your kids **killed you** in self-preservation… if that isn’t a big damn clue that you’ve fucked up somewhere, I don’t know what is.”

 

Seth sighed, and stood up again. “I guess that’s all I really wanted to say. I’d say ‘see you in Hell’… but I really don’t think I will. I did help save the world – that’s gotta get me into Purgatory, at least. Even if it isn’t enough… my girl’s going straight to the top. She’ll sweet-talk all the angels until they upgrade me, just to make her happy. So burn in Hell, asshole, all on your lonesome.”

 

Seth strolled away, putting the diamond back in his pocket. He’d get a jeweller to cut it into a few smaller ones, and put them into a ring – a channel setting – for Kate. She’d tell him he was nuts, but she’d smile brighter than the gems in the ring. God knew his girl deserved them, and everything good in this world that he could give her. It was the least she deserved for putting up with his sorry ass.

 

Seth was going to spend the rest of his life trying to be good enough for her… but he knew one thing was true.

 

He’d **always** been a better man than his father.


	25. Day 25: Halloween Dance (Seth & Kate, post-season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This is the idea I originally had for day 23; one of the reasons I gave it up so easily was because I had it half in mind for this prompt anyway!_
> 
> _Takes place between season 1 and 2; I’ve heard that s2 takes place roughly six months after, which would cover this particular ‘occasion’. Obviously, I’m filling this mostly as ‘dance’._
> 
> _Soundtrack: ‘All I want’ by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Just because it’s one of my favourites, and I think it sets the mood I’m trying for._

Kate sat on the sea-wall, looking out at the sunset. On what was probably a whim, she and Seth had ended up in a little seaside town… probably more of a resort that had gone out of business, and accidentally been repurposed as a village. But for the first time in months, Kate had felt the heavy invisible weight on her chest lift a little.

 

At least until she’d looked at the paper this morning.

 

She felt, rather than saw, Seth take a seat beside her.

 

“I got you a Coke.”

 

Kate kept looking out at the sunset, but accepted the bottle with a brief smile of thanks.

 

The pink streaks faded a little, and the sun sank a little deeper, but Kate didn’t move, and neither did Seth.

 

As sun disappeared over the horizon, Seth sighed explosively. “Alright, Princess. Spill it.”

 

“Spill what?” Kate asked.

 

“Whatever’s got you in this pissy mood. Since we hit this beach, you’ve actually been smiling a little, but you’ve been in a mood all day. I know it’s the wrong time of month for PMS, so will you just give it up and tell me what the fuck’s wrong already?”

 

Kate looked at him in astonishment, and a little queasiness. “You keep track of my cycle?”

 

Seth rolled his eyes. “I used to be married, remember? One of the prime rules for sharing space with a woman. Always know when her hormones are driving her nuts, and if chocolate helps. Don’t tell me that your Dad and your brother didn’t know yours and your Mom’s.”

 

Kate thought for a minute. “Huh. Scott didn’t. Pretty sure Daddy did, both Momma and me.”

 

“So now we’ve settled that… what is it?”

 

Kate sighed. “It’s stupid.”

 

“Tell me anyway.”

 

“I’ve lost track of the days, being here. It’s almost like the Crucifixion… everything is dated from the day we walked into the Twister. I forgot what the calendar said.”

 

Seth looked at her knowingly. “Let me guess… you looked at the paper this morning, and got a look at the date. What is it – Scott’s birthday? Oh Jesus Kate, don’t tell me it’s yours and you thought I wouldn’t care?”

 

“No, it’s not my birthday. Won’t be for another few months, yet.”

 

“Phew,” Seth mock-sighed. “Make sure you tell me, and I’ll get you something decent. Only turn eighteen once, right?”

 

Kate smiled a little, appreciatively. For a completely selfish jerkass criminal, Seth could be pretty nice, sometimes. “Like I said… it’s stupid. But – my school, back in Bethel. It’s Homecoming, tonight. I had so many plans for my senior year; I was even going to try to get on the Homecoming court.”

 

Seth grinned. “Hey, I could totally see you as the Queen.”

 

Kate snickered. “Texas, Seth. You don’t get the crown without dating a star football player. But I was hoping for a nomination, anyway. I had my eye on a dress at Betty’s – one that Daddy would make all sorts of noise about being too low-cut -”

 

“What, it actually showed that you had tits?” Seth snorted.

 

Kate shoved her shoulder against his, hard enough to actually make him lean. “Shut up. I was going to wear my highest heels, and dance until I got blisters. And if Kyle actually tried to feel me up, I’d let him.”

 

Seth’s lips were pressed together tightly, though the corners twitched, and his eyes danced with laughter.

 

“Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I’m sure yours was a total Bacchanalia.”

 

Seth broke out into a rich chuckle, one that sent shivers up her spine. “Actually, it was more _Hangover_ meets John Hughes. Maybe _National Lampoon_?”

 

He jumped off the sea-wall into the sand, then turned to face her. “C’mon.”

 

Kate frowned at him.

 

“Can’t you hear the music? That pair of sorority dropouts turned on their radio again? Dunno how they manage to get the Top 40 down here.”

 

Kate stammered, “Y-yeah, I can hear the music, but…”

 

Seth grinned. “Come on. There’s no gym or stupid streamers, but I can give you a dance, anyway.”

 

Kate grinned back. For a completely selfish jerkass criminal, Seth Gecko could be downright sweet.

 

As Seth put his hand on her lower back, Kate ignored the way her skin came alive under his touch. That way lay madness – or at least, a supremely bad idea.

 

But she let herself relax as Seth skilfully danced her along the sand, and laughed at his tales of his own Homecoming, when his date had gotten wasted and puked down his shirtfront, and how he somehow got a lot more attention from the ladies when he’d stripped down to his undershirt (Kate could at least admit to relating to that), and how Richie had somehow manage to rig the Homecoming court voting so that Miss Piggy was voted in as Queen.

 

Seth danced with her along the beach and back down again, until the moon rose high in the sky, and made her laugh all the way back to their room.

 

Kate fell asleep that night smiling.

 


	26. Creepy shadow (Seth, post season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Another almost-last-minute idea. This is what’s happening to Seth during day 21: Foggy, while Kate’s in the ballroom._

Seth gritted his teeth and hugged the wall, as he gently opened the door to what had once been Calvin Candie’s study.  At first glance, it seemed like there was nothing in the room but shadows - shadows that seemed to ripple the longer you looked at them.

 

He really, really hoped the consecrated iron rounds the ghost hunter wannabes gave him worked like they thought, because otherwise he might be shit out of luck.  He never thought he’d come across something that scared him worse than _culebras_ … but this ghost or whatever the fuck it was did just that.  He knew how to kill one of **them** \- stake or several bullets in the heart, take off the head, enough damage to break the spine and destroy the heart.  Or fire, if you were desperate. 

 

How the hell did you destroy something that didn’t have a physical form? 

 

One of not-Ghostbusters was sure that this wasn’t a true ghost, but something that could slide into the physical body of whatever it killed, filling it up like water in a cup – which sounded like a shapeshifting _culebras_ , but if what happened to that poor bastard in the garden proved anything, this was no bloodsucker.  Whatever this thing sucked out from its prey, it was something that couldn’t be seen.

 

Seth steadied his breathing, falling into the tracking mode he’d taught himself hunting.

 

One of the shadows coalesced, becoming more solid, and Seth brought the gun to bear.    

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _If the bit about ‘consecrated Iron rounds’ sounds familiar, it’s a reference to the Supernatural episode ‘Hell house’, where a particular religious symbol helps a ghost keep changing form as the internet rumours about it change. Dean and Sam finally destroy it when they themselves start the story that consecrated iron rounds will destroy the spirit._


	27. Halloween movie (Scott & Kate, far future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Same setting as day 12: spooky book, but a few months earlier_

 

“So, what have you got for our movie night?” Scott asked tentatively.

 

After Richie and Seth had destroyed the Lords of Night (with more than a little help from his sister; who would have dreamed she could be such a badass!? Definitely not him!) all the _culebras_ had found themselves human again.  Given how old most of them had been, they hadn’t had much time to enjoy the experience.  Scott, for one, was still getting used to jumping from fifteen to twenty overnight; every time he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, he kept wondering who was there.

 

After the reversion, it had taken him a couple of weeks to track down his sister, all the while working to adjust to things like having a heartbeat again, and having to take a dump on an annoyingly frequent basis.  But at least finding Kate hadn’t been too hard, since he’d made a point of checking on her a couple of times per year already. 

 

He’d found her in this little house by the Pacific Ocean, happily living in sin - **very** happily, judging from the noises that echoed down the hall every night – with the murderous thief who she’d first set eyes on over the barrel of a gun.

 

According to Kate, Richie and Seth’s own reunion before the trip into the underworld had been much stormier, featuring enough swearing to make Tarantino blush, flying fists, guns akimbo, and broken furniture. 

 

Luckily, he and Kate had been raised to be more civilised.  So while Richie and Seth were having their own sibling bonding night – which, Kate eye-rolled, would probably involve shitty tequila, knife throwing contests, and at least two fist-fights, one just between them – he and Kate were doing movies and popcorn after dinner.

 

“Well, I grabbed a bunch of movies, you make the final pick,” Kate invited.

 

Scott walked to the pile of DVD cases, and picked up the first.

 

“Um, Kate, what the fuck? _Twilight_?”

 

“Oh, sorry, I just got that one to annoy Seth.  The others are for tonight.”

 

Scott tossed that one into one of the random boxes that still littered the house – Kate and Seth had only just moved in when he found them – and sorted through the rest.

 

He looked at the cat, who had settled on top of the TV, and muttered, “I’m sensing a definite theme, here.”

 

Poe simply twitched an ear, and stared back, as if to say ‘Well, what did you expect?’

 

“Well?” Kate asked brightly.

 

“ _The Lost Boys_ ,” Scott stated, holding up the case.  “ _Fright Night_ the reboot. _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_.  _Dracula Unbound_. _Blade_. Seriously?”

 

Kate gave him a look that could very well have staked him, a month ago.  “Seriously.”

 

Scott sighed.  Okay, yeah, he probably had this coming.  “ _Lost Boys,_ then _Blade_?”


	28. Witch (Margaret Gonzales, post season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Came up with this idea right before I wrote it! The Muse is really liking me right now – wonder if I can get her to stick around for skyeward month?_

Margaret bit her lip, and pushed open the door to the store.  A set of bells chimed as she entered, just like so many of the absolutely ordinary little stores she entered every week, and the familiar sound calmed her a little.

 

A twenty-something blonde woman looked up from behind the counter, and smiled.  “Welcome, and blessed be.”

 

Margaret took a deep breath, and walked straight to the counter.  “Hi.  I’m looking for things I can use for protection on my home.  I think they’re called wards?”

 

The shopkeeper’s gentle grey eyes quickly scanned her up and down, and Margaret couldn’t help but feel that the other woman’s gaze had looked a lot deeper than her skin.

 

“You’re wearing a crucifix; this isn’t some idle whim, is it?”

 

Margaret shook her head.

 

“What do you need protection against?”

 

“Monsters.  Ones that feast on blood and memories.”

 

Freddie protected their home and family the best way he could.  So would she.

 

 


	29. Day 29: Halloween music

I actually made two fanmixes for this, but I had to make it a separate work. Just go to http://archiveofourown.org/works/4653555


	30. Day 30: Superstition (Richie & Seth, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _My last switch, the original prompt was ‘scariest cover’ (these prompts were from a book review blog, originally)._
> 
>  
> 
> _Takes place after day 27, but before day 12. Poe snuck in for one last appearance! Not sure where I picked up this twist on the black cat superstition… but it’s a nice one, don’t you think?_

Carrying a box of liquor bottles in his arms, Seth grunted as he found himself stopped by his brother’s back. Seth shifted the box slightly, and craned his neck to see what had Richie stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.

 

“Richie, you mind?”

 

“Not now, Seth.”

 

Seth’s eyes narrowed, and he viciously kicked Richie in the back of the knee. Richie’s leg naturally gave out, and he collapsed on the carpet.

 

“Dammit, Seth!”

 

Seth snickered. “Time waits for no man, Rich, especially when I’ve got a box of hooch dragging my arms from their sockets.”

 

“But the cat!”

 

Seth craned his neck again, and caught sight of Poe, crouched in that awkward little corner of the hall that Kate swore was the worse dust-trap in the house, and always made her glare when she vacuumed. Poe had claimed it as one of his sentry posts the day they’d moved in, so they’d found one of those weird little knick-knack shelf thingies that fit into corners and installed it so Poe could sit on top and survey the hall, instead of lurking under their feet.

 

“Yeah, Poe likes sitting there. We got that shelf-thingy so he couldn’t hide in the corner and trip us up in the hall.”

 

“Given what our lives have been like the past few years, do you really think letting a black cat constantly cross your path is wise?”

 

Seth bit back another snicker. Richie’s near OCD over various superstitions – starting on the day he’d found himself human again – was awesomely fun to give him shit about, but Richie usually replied with his fists, and Seth had about a grand worth of Blue Agave in his arms.

“Nah, Richie, it’s cool. There’s actually a way to turn the superstition around.”

 

Richie’s voice was deeply sceptical. “There’s actually a way to make a black cat crossing your path bring you **good** luck?”

 

“Sure,” Seth replied. “If you own the cat!”

 

Granted, it was more like Poe owned him and Kate, but it worked either way.

 

“That doesn’t exactly apply to me, Seth,” Richie pointed out.

 

“Huh. That’s a good point,” Seth conceded.

 

Then he continued his way down the hall, leaving Poe and Richie to their staredown.

 

(His money was on Poe)

 


	31. Day 31: Happy halloween (Gecko-Fuller fam, future)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Same setting as day 12, day 27, day 30, and a few hours after day 19. This setting is basically my ideal ending for the show, because I am both a Hopeless Romantic and a big fan of Happy Endings, especially if the characters really earn them._
> 
> _‘Jerry and his boys’ refers to Jerry Garcia & the Grateful Dead, and to their song ‘Truckin’._
> 
>  
> 
> _Soundtrack: Sympathy for the devil – The Rolling Stones_

Clad in his black and red suit (except he’d already lost the tie, the suit jacket and opened the shirt collar and rolled up the sleeves) with neat little devil horns on his head, Seth jumped on top of the gleaming mahogany bar.

 

 “Ladies! Gentlemen! Scumbags! Is everyone here set for a good time?”

 

The crowd roared back.

 

Seth took a few seconds to savor the rush. It was almost as good as riding away from a job with a huge bag of money. Almost as good as watching a _culebras_ turn to ashes. Then he looked over to Richie, Scott and Kate, standing by the pool tables, and couldn’t hold back the grin – he didn’t want to. Because this was a **better** rush.

 

His place. His family, including his mate. Like Jerry and his boys had said, it had been one long, strange trip. But at the end of it, he’d landed in a place he’d always dreamed of but never found: Home.

 

That fucker Carlos had promised him paradise in El Rey, and that he and Richie would be at peace. Narciso the scumsucker had told him that El Rey was not for him, and that he would never get there.

Turned out that Seth had just needed to make his **own** paradise, and he’d found everything he was promised. So Carlos and Narciso’s ashes could go fuck themselves.

 

“Welcome to El Rey! Not everyone here knows this, but it’s not just Halloween tonight, the night to celebrate pranks, junk food, and scary shit by putting on cool and crazy outfits and drinking ‘til you pass out or puke – most of my favorite things!” Seth leered over at Kate, who looked fucking **hot** in her warrior angel costume, and added, “The other stuff, my wife gives me.”

 

As most of the crowd cheered, Richie smirked, Scott pretended to throw up, and Kate just blew him a kiss and winked.

 

“But more importantly, tonight is officially the first anniversary of the bar named El Rey opening it’s doors for business. Depending on how tonight goes, we plan to make our Halloween slash anniversary bash not only an annual tradition, but an annual legend!”

 

The whole crowd cheered this time.

 

“So, ladies, gentlemen, and scumbags, raise your glasses!” Seth raised his shot glass of Blue Agave high in the air – the glass emblazoned with the special ‘El Rey Halloween’ logo Richie had designed, including a pair of bloody fangs – and Kate, Scott and Richie raised their own identical shots, because his family was going to have the fucking best.

 

“Tonight, we party from dusk till dawn!”

 

The crowd lifted glasses or empty hands in the air, and repeated the war cry. “From dusk till dawn!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Holy shit, Rodriguez! I am DONE - and just in time for the Season 2 premiere!  
> **  
>  So... until I finish next season, (at least)... I am FINISHED


End file.
